I prefer someone with knowledge of finance being the head of a department very heavily involved in finance. Whether or not the particular person was the right guy is a determination I personally wouldn't make on his job alone.
It's like saying "I prefer someone technical managing my mainframe" after appointing a web designer to the role.
I would literally have more faith in someone who had served as treasurer at a large church running the Commerce Department compared to someone like 83-year old Wilbur Ross.